West Cork families celebrate after securing extra school bus service

Bus Éireann said the service will begin on Monday, November 28

The children from the Rossmore and Kilmeen areas near Clonakilty have been without bus tickets since the beginning of the school term meaning their parents have had to drive them for up to an hour each day to get to school. File Photo

Parents of 11 West Cork schoolchildren who have been unable to get tickets for their local school bus are finally celebrating with the news that Bus Éireann has agreed to provide an extra bus for the area.

The children from the Rossmore and Kilmeen areas near Clonakilty have been without bus tickets since the beginning of the school term meaning their parents have had to drive them for up to an hour each day to get to school. The parents have been campaigning for extra bus tickets to allow all of the children from the area who want a place on the school bus to avail of it.

Following enquiries from the Irish Examiner, a Bus Éireann spokesperson said: “Bus Éireann would like to acknowledge the unprecedented demand for the school transport scheme this year. To date, Bus Éireann school transport offices across Ireland have issued over 127,000 tickets for school transport, which is an increase of over 20% compared to the same period last year.

“I can confirm that an extra bus has now been allocated for the pupils in the Rossmore/Kilmeen area of West Cork. Families will be notified by email in the coming days and the service will commence on Monday, November 28. All pupils in the Rossmore/Kilmeen area will be allocated a place on this new service.” 

Local Fianna Fáil TD Christopher O’Sullivan said: “I’m absolutely delighted for the parents and the students as well who have had to put up with a lot over the last couple of months not being able to avail of bus tickets.

“I want to commend them on their campaign to put pressure on Bus Éireann to provide that extra bus. The important thing now is that we don’t have to do this again going into future years.” 

Denis O'Donovan, spokesperson for the parents group, said the parents are delighted that the issue has finally been resolved.

“It’s common sense and thankfully the right decision has been made. It shouldn’t have taken this long as it put a lot of people through unnecessary stress," he said. "The important thing is that people are not forced to go through this again in the future."